


Don't tell Paul

by LetMePukeInYourMouthEm



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 15:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21655129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetMePukeInYourMouthEm/pseuds/LetMePukeInYourMouthEm
Summary: (Great titling skills there, me.)It's an alternate universe where five years ago, a meteorite hit Hatchetfield. CCRP, to be exact. However, it didn't carry the musical pathogen we all knowand love.It carried five superpowers.So this idea came straight out of left field. I honestly don't know where I got it from, but please enjoy my terrible writing.
Comments: 26
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

"Mr. Davidson? My printer br..." Paul trailed off when he saw Mr. Davidson's desk. His computer somehow seemed to be typing itself. "What?"

Paul rubbed his eyes. Mr. Davidson was turned around, looking at him expectantly. "Yes, Paul?"

Paul looked behind his boss. The computer was normal again. He shook his head slightly and made eye contact again. He must have imagined it. "Sorry, lost my train of thought for a second there. My printer broke, can you have someone take a look at it?"

"Sure, Paul. Need anything else?" 

"Nope. Thanks, Mr. Davidson." 

"Anytime." Paul left. Mr Davidson rested his head on the desk. That had really been a close one. He would need to be more careful, or he might find out. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

"Hey, Bill?" Paul asked carefully during a coffee break.

"Yes?" 

"Have you noticed anything... weird about Mr. Davidson?"

"What about him isn't weird?" Ted chuckled. 

"Ted!" Charlotte scolded him.

"Ha, ha, Ted. I'm serious. I walked into his office this morning and his computer was working. Without him touching it." His coworkers stared at him.

"Mm-hmm," Ted nodded slowly. "Sure it was."

"I think you've had too much coffee, Paul," Charlotte said gently. "Are you alright?" 

"I'm fine, guys. Just forget it." It had just been a figment of his imagination, then. That's all. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

"Do you think that means he's figuring it all out?" Melissa whispered to Charlotte. 

"I don't know. He seemed to shake the thought off, but he's pretty stubborn," she whispered back. 

"I wish we could tell him," Bill sighed, looking at Paul. "It would be so much easier than pretending, and I hate having lied to him for all these years."

"You know we can't, Bill," Charlotte murmured. "I agree, though. It feels bad to keep something this major from someone we've known so long."

"What are you guys talking about?" Ted joined in, startling Charlotte.

"How did you get here, Ted? " she asked, clearly flustered.

"Guess."

"Ted! You know the rules!" Melissa hissed. "You can't use them in public!"

Ted rolled his eyes. "So what you're saying is that if I broke your arm, right here, right now-"

"I wouldn't try it, Ted."

"Hypothetically, of course. So, if I broke your arm, you would want Bill to do absolutely nothing about it. Am I getting that right?" 

"You know that's different, Ted. And I wouldn't let him heal my arm in broad daylight, either." Bill and Charlotte nodded. 

"So no more public teleportation, Ted?" Charlotte whispered, holding out her hand.

He sighed, but shook it anyway. "You guys are so fucking boring." 


	2. Chapter 2

"You might need to stop using your telekinesis here altogether, Mr. Davidson," Melissa told her boss with a sigh. "At least, for now. We can't feed Paul's suspicions. That would be a mess for everyone."

"And I still can't tell Carol?" 

"I'm sorry. We just don't know enough about them to tell other people. It's hard on all of us. I can't imagine how Bill feels, having to hide his from his daughter." 

"I don't like lying to my wife, Melissa. I love her." He unintentionally lifted a pen with his powers and doodled on a piece of paper.

"I know that. And I told you to stop for now." 

"Huh?" He looked up and noticed the pen. "Sorry." He crumpled up the paper and threw it away. "I understand, Melissa. I'll try a little harder to stop. Maybe I won't have to, I know you'll keep me in check," he chuckled. 

"Uh-huh. See you later, Mr. Davidson." She got up and opened the door.

"Bye."

~•~•~•~•~•~

"She's told you a million times, Ted. It's called chaetokinesis," Bill sighed, slowly sounding out the word. "It's really not that complicated." 

"Well, I like 'hair move-y power' better." 

"Well, I might like you with a neon pink mohawk better. That doesn't mean it's going to happen, though." Melissa crossed her arms. "Not unless you make me."

"Point taken, Medusa."

"Melissa," she corrected him.

"I know what I said."

"Do you, now?" She picked him up with her hair and took off her glasses, looking him right in the eye. "Damn it, I hoped that'd turn you to stone." She sighed and slipped her glasses back on. "There's always wishes, I guess." Bill couldn't help laughing a little.

"Put me down." 

"Nah, maybe later," she smiled. He teleported out of her hair and reappeared next to her. She returned her hair to its natural length. "Right. Almost forgot you could do that, Ted." 

~•~•~•~•~•~

Charlotte smiled. She always loved to see the birds fly by. The pair that landed on her balcony chirped a "hello" to her.

"Hey, there, little birdies." Her power, omnilingualism, included animals, to her delight. "That's very sweet of you!... Aww... Nice to hear...."

Sam joined her on their small balcony. The birds flew away. She was sad to see them go. "Who were you talking to, Char?" 

"...Nobody." Charlotte still hadn't told him about the powers. She had convinced herself that it was because Melissa wouldn't let her. Really, though, who was she kidding? She wanted to trust Sam, she really did. She just felt like there was a rift in the connection, like their spark was gone. She didn't want to leave him, though, so she had just let it happen. Now that she had made her bed, she had to lay in it. Next to Sam. Every night. Most nights, anyway. 

"Come inside, Charlotte, baby." She didn't want to stop talking with the birds. But, of course, she couldn't explain that to Sam, so she followed him in, quietly chirping a "goodbye, birdies" back to them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that all of the powers have been established, here's a roundup, in order of their mention.
> 
> Mr. Davidson: Telekinesis  
Ted: Teleportation  
Bill: Healing powers  
Melissa: Chaetokinesis (hair manipulation)  
Charlotte: Omnilingualism/ Animal communication


	3. Chapter 3

Paul got to work a few minutes early. He started on his weekly report, looking up when he heard movement.

"Ted? When did you get here?" He asked. Ted's eyes widened before he ran out the door. Paul followed him, but Ted was gone before he could catch up. "What? Where did he...?" 

Ted was back in his apartment, wondering how much Paul had seen.

~•~•~•~•~•~

Charlotte was video-calling someone on her work computer. The man didn't speak English. Charlotte hadn't been told that, but she didn't skip a beat and kept a conversation with him in fluent Cantonese. 

Paul sat down at his desk next to her and heard small portions of their call. He didn't understand it, but he correctly recognized some of the sounds. 

Charlotte ended the call with a smile on her face. 

"I didn't know you spoke Cantonese, Charlotte," Paul said with an unfathomable expression.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Good thing."

She smiled again. "Oh, well, I do. And he was a riot, let me tell you!" She giggled. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

Melissa was watering the potted plants at CCRP, like she usually did on Wednesdays. This time, though, she wasn't alone. She was glad to hear Paul wanted to help her, instead of slowly distancing himself from all of them. 

"How much water does each pla- wha- I- uh... Melissa?" 

"Hmm?" Melissa realized she had been absentmindedly using her hair, like she did when no one was around to see her. She gasped and quickly switched the container to her hands, making her hair normal again. "I mean, what did you say, Paul?"

"Meli- y-your hair, it w- your- what?"

"Are you okay, Paul?" Melissa asked as if she had no clue what he was talking about. "Do you need anything?" 

"I- ju- you- what... No."

She smiled at him and continued watering the plants like nothing had happened. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

Mr. Davidson was in his office, <strike>working hard</strike> hardly working. He knew Melissa had told him to stop using the telekenisis at work, but he was so much more productive when he didn't have to use hand-eye coordination. He heard a knock at the door. He assumed it was Melissa and decided against dropping everything to his desk, calling a "come in!" to the person on the other side of his door.

"Mr. Davidson, I just wanted to... fl-floating... wh- you- I-... floa- what is- Mr. Davidson?" 

"What do you mean 'floating,' Paul?" Mr. Davidson asked, refusing to turn and look at the objects that hovered, suspended in the air right behind his head. 

"Nev-nevermind!" Paul turned and ran. Mr. Davidson closed and locked his door. This was going to be a fun mess to clean up. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

Bill had torn a muscle. Paul ran to get a first-aid kit, and Bill tried to heal himself before he returned. Paul was fast, though, and saw Bill's hand emitting a turquoise glow, which was radiating gently towards the torn muscle. He backed away from Bill, confused and scared. 

"Bill? Y-your... Are- Bill?"

Bill looked up and stopped healing himself, trying to pass it off as him rubbing his injury. Paul dropped the first-aid kit and ran. Bill sighed and started healing himself again.


	4. Chapter 4

"So he's definitely noticed," Mr. Davidson said. 

"But has he connected any of the dots?" Charlotte asked, fiddling with Melissa's hair.

"Don't do that, Char. She almost killed me when I tried," Ted muttered. Charlotte quickly pulled away her hand.

"No, it's okay when Charlotte does it."

"Why?" Ted asked, almost offended.

"Because Charlotte's not an asshole, Ted," Mr. Davidson told him.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Melissa chuckled. "Anyways. Back to Paul. Wait just a second, I'm going to go get the meteorite piece. It's what got us into this mess in the first place." She went to her desk and pulled out a small wooden box. She took it back to Mr. Davidson's office, where the other four were. "Here it is."

"Calm down, Medusa, we're not a cult," Ted told her with a smirk. 

"I told you not to call me that, Ted." She unlocked the box. "Oh, no."

"What's wrong?" Bill asked.

"The meteorite piece is gone."

~•~•~•~•~•~

Paul had first seen it under his desk. It was beautiful, looking like an opal in some places and an amethyst in others. He wanted to figure out what it was, so he took it to Professor Hidgens's to get some tests done on it. He wondered where it had come from. Why would it have been under his desk? What was it? And why did he feel weak when he touched it?

~•~•~•~•~•~

"You're kidding," Ted told her, but he knew she wasn't. 

"This isn't exactly a laughing matter, Ted," Mr. Davidson said, getting up to look for the meteorite. She was right. It was nowhere to be seen. 

"Well, where could it have gone?" Bill asked. "You're the only one who can unlock that chest, Melissa."

"I guess I _thought_ I was the only one who could open it," Melissa told him frantically. Her hair grew longer and shorter with every exasperated breath she took. "Where is it?!" 

"It's okay, Melissa," Charlotte said quietly. "I'm sure we'll find it." 

"What if it's not okay? What if we don't find it? What then? Do we lose our powers? Do we die? What then?!" 


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, Medusa, w-" Ted started.

"I told you not to call me that!" Melissa's now-black hair shot towards him.

"Whoa!" He ducked just in time. "Melissa, I'm sorry!" He swerved to the right to avoid another lock of hair. "I didn't mean it, really!" 

Melissa's hair returned to its natural length and color as she collapsed onto the ground. 

"Melissa!" Bill cried.

Charlotte ran over and knelt down next to her. "I- I think she's okay, just unconscious."

"We should probably go home," a very shaken Mr. Davidson said.

"I'll take her." Charlotte carefully picked up Melissa's body. She carried her out of the office and into her car and drove to Melissa's apartment.

~•~•~ The next morning ~•~•~ 

When Melissa woke up and got to the office, it was utter chaos. 

Mr. Davidson was floating, gripping into the desks for even the tiniest bit of security.

Charlotte either couldn't choose what language she was speaking or couldn't speak at all, Melissa couldn't tell.

Ted kept phasing in and out of existence.

Her own hair was out of control. It had started changing lengths, textures and colors and moving around in random directions, and any living thing she touched ended up the same. 

Bill was glowing a soft turquoise, and he couldn't touch anything. It would immediately shoot away from him.

And poor Paul had no clue what was going on at all. 


	6. Chapter 6

Paul looked like he had seen a ghost (and, considering Ted's current situation, he kind of had). He ran out of the building as fast as he could. Melissa didn't blame him, but she did fear for what he might say to others. Nobody would believe him, though. Right? 

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this has something to do with the meteorite piece," Mr. Davidson said from above the others.

"дa," Charlotte said, before sighing and nodding her head.

Bill almost touched Melissa's arm passing her to try to get to Ted. "No!" She quickly pulled it away before her powers could affect his hair.

"You don't have to worry about it, I kind of can't touch anything right now." Bill's voice sounded foggy.

"What?" He hesitantly reached out to touch her arm. She rocketed into the wall behind her. "Ow!" 

"Sorry!" Bill said, trying to use his powers as normal to heal any injury he might have accidentally caused her.

Charlotte tried to say something and then realized she was speaking Swahili. She tried again. Dolphin. Korean. Portugese. 

"What... hap...pened to the... meteorite?" Ted asked, between teleportations.

"We need to go looking for it," Melissa said as a lock of her hair tried to grab Mr. Davidson and pull him down. She screamed as Mr. Davidson's powers lifted her off the ground. Because her hair touched him, his hair (though not as much as hers) started changing length and color, too. The part of her hair that tried to get Mr. Davidson slipped off and Melissa fell to the ground. Her hair broke her fall.

"We can't go out like this!" 

Charlotte tried to talk again. Esperanto. Dutch. English, but with an incredibly thick Cockney accent. 

Paul ran in with Professor Hidgens. "Look at them!" Paul frantically motioned to his co-workers and boss. "What is going on?"

Melissa noticed something lightly sparkle in the Professor's hand. 

The meteorite.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where did you get that?" Melissa asked, staring at the Professor's hand. 

"Paul gave it to me to examine." He looked around at the people in the room. "Extraordinary...." He breathed.

Melissa didn't appreciate the casual approach to the situation. "It's ours. How did you get it, Paul?" She asked, trying to keep her hair from grabbing the professor.

"I don't know. It was under my desk the other day." He was still understandably confused about the powers. 

"It's yours? If you don't mind my asking, does it happen to have anything to do with..." Professor Hidgens trailed off and gestured to the room.

"I do actually mind you asking, but yes," Melissa sighed. "Now, can we have it back or am I going to have to take it?"

"Is that a threat, Melissa?" Paul glared at her.

"Do you want it to be?" She glared back.

"Guys! Stop it!" Bill walked over to where they were standing, taking care not to touch anything. "Professor, can we have the meteorite back, please?" 

Hidgens looked at the meteorite and then back at the people in the room. He hesitantly nodded, setting it in Bill's hand. 

"No!" It flew off of Bill and hit the ceiling. Melissa cringed as she waited for the sound of the meteorite crashing on the ground and breaking. It never came. She opened her eyes and pushed her hair out of her face. She saw Charlotte holding the meteorite piece, a relieved look on her face. "Charlotte! You saved it!" Melissa stopped short of hugging her. "Sorry, I would, but, y'know...." she pointed up at Mr. Davidson.

Charlotte nodded with a bubbly laugh. "I underst-" she cut herself off with a noise of shock and joy at the sound of her voice speaking English. "Melissa! Your hair!" Melissa looked at her shoulders and smiled, seeing that her hair was normal again. She looked up to see if Mr. Davidson's was, too, but she was pleasantly surprised to see him on the ground, also with his regular hair. Ted had stopped randomly teleporting, and Bill wasn't glowing anymore. He and Melissa awkwardly poked each other, trying to see if their powers were still going, but nothing happened, to their relief.

Paul spoke up. "Um, sorry to ruin the moment, but _what the fuck just happened?_" 

The group sighed. They knew this day would come eventually.

"Short story or long story?" Ted asked him.

"Long story, please." 


	8. Chapter 8

"It happened about five years ago." Mr Davidson sat down at a desk. "You were out sick, if I remember, Paul." 

"Yeah, he was," Ted continued the story, "and that's why he didn't get anything."

"Ted, are you ever _not_ an asshole? We almost died."

"Hey, it's what I do best. Anyway, Paul was gone and we heard the fire alarm go off. Someone said there was a meteor headed for Hatchetfield. Everyone else in the building got out safely, but our exit was blocked. We thought we were going to die."

"It was the five of us, trapped in Mr. Davidson's office, panicking," Bill recalled. "We said our last goodbyes to each other and then the meteor hit. Huge part of the office destroyed. I'm sure you remember that part, Paul."

"Yeah. Never heard anything about a meteor, though." Paul still didn't understand.

"Well, we weren't gone. Charlotte and I were convinced we were ghosts and that was the afterlife, but Ted and Melissa wanted to look a little further into it. So we all agreed to go see what had happened, and rescue any uncounted survivors. While were looking around, we saw a soft glow coming from one of the destroyed rooms."

"We looked in the room and uncovered this guy right here." Mr Davidson pointed to the meteorite, still in Charlotte's hands. "Ted ill-advisedly picked it up and it turned purple. He dropped it, I caught it, it turned blue."

Ted teleported near Melissa, who continued the story. "So on and– stop it, Ted– so forth, the meteorite turned fuschia when I touched it, turquoise when– Ted, stop playing with my hair or so help me I will strangle you with it– turquoise for Bill, and finally, green when Charlotte held it." 

"The superpowers didn't appear until a week or so later," Charlotte added, looking the meteorite over again. "Those first few days were terrifying. Realizing you had powers, but not really being able to understand or control them yet, with no one to tell. It was easiest for me because my power's not physical, but it's much harder than you would think to keep omnilingualism under wraps when you're inexperienced."

"I know I was scared when I woke up dangling from a tree outside of my apartment complex," Ted chuckled. "Turns out I had teleported there in my sleep."

"My hair grew nine inches in one day. I didn't realize I was the one doing it until I looked in the mirror and made it its normal length again."

"Wait. Melissa, how old were you when this all started?" The professor asked.

Melissa realized he was taking notes, and had quietly interrogated the other four as well. "If a word about our powers leaves this room, I'll have your head," she warned him, crossing her arms.

"It won't. Answer the question, please."

"Fine. I was, um, 18 or 19. It was my first year working here."

"Much younger than the others, yes?"

"I wouldn't say 'much younger', but sure?"

"And you have chaetokinesis?" 

Melissa was caught off-guard. She'd never met someone who knew the term without her telling them first. To be fair, though, the people she had told about her chaetokinesis consisted of the six people in the room with her and nobody else. "Right."

"Why didn't you guys tell me?" Paul asked.

"We didn't know who we could and couldn't tell, so we went with 'nobody,'" Charlotte shrugged. "The meteorite didn't exactly come with instructions."

"We can't even tell our families," Mr. Davidson said. "I've been lying to my wife for five years because of t-"

"Please, Mr. Davidson. It's not easy for any of us," Bill said, interrupting him before he could go on another tangent.

"Changing the subject a little, when did you five start talking to each other about it?" Professor Hidgens looked up from his papers.

"Mr. Davidson made an offhand comment at a meeting that implied he had powers, so Ted went up and asked him the next day."

"Up-front and to the point. Maybe not the wisest approach, but I like it." Professor Hidgens gathered his papers and looked at the meteorite again. "I have to go. Goodbye."

"You tell no one!" Melissa called after him, picking up the meteorite with her hair. He had run some tests on it, but it seemed generally unharmed. She was relieved. "I don't have any proof, but I think our powers were going crazy because we were separated from the meteorite." The others nodded. "By the way, Paul, you're sure this was just under your desk?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I've told you that twenty times, Melissa."

"She's waiting until you give her a real answer, Paul," Ted said from across the room. "How'd you open the chest?"

"What are you talking about?"


	9. Chapter 9

"I usually keep this in a locked box in my desk." Melissa set the meteorite on the desk in front of Paul. "Last night, I discovered it was gone. Now we hear that you just so happened to have it."

Paul met her eyes. "I didn't take it. I didn't even know it existed, much less what it was until pretty much now." 

"Well, who else could have?" Mr Davidson asked.

"We don't want to blame you, b-"

"I do!" Ted called. Melissa and Mr. Davidson glared at him.

"Those of us with hearts don't, at least," Charlotte frowned.

"Those of us with brains do." Ted teleported next to Paul. "Why and how did you take it?" 

"I didn't!"

"Do you have proof you didn't?"

"Do you have proof I did?"

"No, Paul. If I had proof it was you, Melissa would have slaughtered you thirty minutes ago."

"That's fair, yeah," Melissa shrugged.

"Don't encourage him, Melissa," Mr. Davidson said, laughing a little. 

"I want to hear the full side of Paul's story," Bill spoke up. "If there are any contradictions or other things proving him wrong, we'll hear them." 

"He could lie, though," Ted said. 

"Not if we do what I'm thinking," Bill smiled. "Melissa?"

~•~

"Put me down!" 

"I'd rather not. Tell us what happened." Melissa sat down. "And don't even try lying." She casually cleaned her glasses with her blazer, keeping Paul in the air. Charlotte and Mr. Davidson were wide-eyed, staring at Paul and Melissa. Bill and Ted were laughing. Ted really wanted to make another Medusa joke, but he knew he'd end up in the same situation as Paul.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay," Paul mumbled, nervously tapping his wrists. He started talking more clearly. "Yesterday afternoon, I was working on my statistical analysis." Mr Davidson smiled and shot him finger guns, which he awkwardly returned. "I-I got up to go get some coffee and saw something under my desk. I picked up the meteorite." Melissa raised an eyebrow and tightened her grip on Paul. "Ow!" 

"You don't have to hurt him," Charlotte admonished.

"Yet," Ted added.

"Ted," Melissa glared at him. "Paul, continue please." 

"Right. I didn't recognize the meteorite, so I took it to Professor Hidgens's. I went back to work and finished up for the day. Then I went home, went to sleep, et cetera. This morning, I got to work and walked into... whatever that was. I ran to get the professor and then here we are." Paul squirmed. "Can you put me down now?" 

Melissa shook her head (and, by extension, Paul). "What do you guys think?" 

"I believe him," Charlotte offered. Bill and Mr. Davidson nodded.

"Ted?" 

Ted crossed his arms. "Do I have to tell you, or do you have a functioning memory?" 

"Great, so Paul's right," Melissa said, putting him back on the ground. "Glad to see we're all on the same page." Ted rolled his eyes. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW : car accident

"Are you okay, or do I need to do something?" Bill asked, helping Paul to his feet.

"I'm fine. But thank you, Bill." He smiled at Bill before adjusting his tie. "And thanks for giving her that idea, by the way."

Bill's phone rang. "Just a second, it's my daughter's girlfriend." He answered the phone. "Yes?... What? ... Oh my God! Is she...? I-... I'll be right there. Does her mother know?... Okay... Thank you for telling me, Deb... G-goodbye." He ended the call and burst into tears.

"What happened?" Charlotte asked, walking over to comfort him.

"Alice was in a car accident." 

Charlotte gasped. "Oh my goodness! Is she okay?"

"She's in an ambulance, I- I need to get to the hospital, I need to be there for her!" His hand twitched and glowed turquoise.

"You're not going to...?" Mr. Davidson trailed off. 

Bill's eyes widened as he realized what he was talking about. "Oh- I- I can't... I have to see her and not be able to do anything!"

~•~•~•~

Bill, Paul, Charlotte, Melissa and Mr. Davidson were in the hospital, waiting to see Alice. Ted had teleported them there, then himself back to the office to get Bill's car.

"Are you here for an Alice Preston-Metcalfe?" A nurse asked them. Bill nodded. They followed her to the room Alice was in. The nurse opened the door. Bill took a deep breath and walked in. Alice was laying on the hospital bed, talking to Deb, whose arm was in a sling. Alice had whiplash and a broken leg, which another nurse was putting in a cast.

"Hi, Dad," Alice tried to smile, but winced in pain when she turned her neck.

"Alice, I..." Bill trailed off and cried harder. 

"We should give them a moment alone," Paul whispered. Charlotte, Melissa and Mr. Davidson nodded and stepped out. "It's going to be okay, Bill," he said softly, holding Bill's hand before following the others out.

"Mr. Preston, I'm so sorry f-"

"It wasn't your fault, Deb," Alice interrupted quietly. "He crashed into us." 

Bill wouldn't let himself look at Alice's leg. His hand twitched as he stopped himself from using his powers. He could fix everything with just one gesture, but he knew he would face terrifying consequences if he healed either of them. "I love you, Alice," he said, forcing himself to keep his hand still.

"I love you, too, Dad." 

"Deb, have you told your mother where you are?" He looked away from Alice's injuries.

"Yeah, she'll be here soon." Deb and Alice shared a sweet smile. Bill's hand twitched again and his eyes flashed turquoise. He breathed sharply and stumbled backwards, grabbing his hand before it could start glowing. "Mr. Preston? Are you okay?" Deb asked, concerned.

"Yes, I-" he started, cutting himself off before he could tell Alice and Deb everything. "I'm fine, Deb." 

"Excuse me, I have someone here for Deborah Hannon." The nurse entered the room again with Deb's mother. 

"I'll be back in a moment, Alice," Bill said, leaving the room to let Deb have some time with her mother. He closed the door and started crying again. The others came over to comfort him. Charlotte held his hand and said something in Tagalog. Bill didn't understand what she said, but he knew what she meant. His hand started twitching again. 

"Did you...?" Melissa couldn't finish the sentence.

"No, but I almost did," he said through tears. "I feel awful."

"There's nothing you could do about it," Mr. Davidson told him gently.

"But there is! I could fix them, but I won't let mys-"

"Shhh," Charlotte interrupted quietly. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. Take a deep breath."

Bill breathed and hugged her. "Thank you, Charlotte." He turned to Paul. "Would you like to talk with Alice?" 

"Only if you come with me." Paul smiled and walked to the door with Bill. They opened the door. Deb and her mother were hugging (not using Deb's bad arm) and Alice was still getting her leg casted. 

"Hey, Uncle Paul," Alice smiled. "You have a hair on your suit jacket." She was right. It happened to be sixteen feet long, but she didn't know that.

"Hey there, Cheshire," Paul smiled back. As they had a conversation, Bill's hand started twitching again. Paul grabbed it. Alice groaned. Bill's hand twitched harder. His eyes turned turquoise, but this time they held the color. He was staring at her leg. His hand was seconds from glowing, but Paul quickly pulled him away from Alice. His eyes turned brown again as the nurse left the room. 

"Thank you, I almost blew it," Bill whispered. 

"Do you need the others to be here? I don't know how this stuff works." Paul made his voice as quiet as he could with Bill still being able to hear him.

"Yeah, if Alice and Deb don't mind."


	11. Chapter 11

Paul left the room to get the rest of the group. Bill looked at his daughter and her girlfriend. They were in so much pain, and all he had to do was....

Before he could stop it, his hand raised and started glowing turquoise.

"Dad?" 

The glow radiated to Alice's neck. 

"M-Mr. Preston?!"

"Dad! What is going on?!"

Bill grabbed his hand, trying to stop it, but the glow was already in the middle of healing Alice's whiplash. Alice and Deb had already seen it. Deb's mother turned her head to look at Bill.

"What? What are you-?!"

Bill lowered his hand when he was done fixing Alice. She put a hand to her neck, which didn't hurt anymore, to her confusion. "What did you...?" Bill ran out of the room, unable to say anything.

"Bill, are you okay?" Charlotte asked when she saw his face.

"I- I ruined everything."

Melissa and Mr. Davidson shared a worried glance. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly. 

"They saw."

"Define 'they,'" Ted clicked his tongue, nervously fiddling with his tie.

"Alice, Deb, Deb's mother."

"None of the doctors or nurses?" Bill shook his head. "So it's only people you know. That's not _too _bad, right?" 

"Yeah, all I have to do is explain to my daughter, and probably her mother, why I lied to her for five years and let her be in pain. That's fine, right?" Bill said, starting to cry again. "She probably hates me."

"Bill, no," Paul interjected, putting a hand on Bill's shoulder. "I know Alice. She could never hate anyone, especially not you."

"Thank you, Paul. You're right." Bill took a deep breath. "I need to go in there again and tell her what happened."

"Make sure it's only the people who saw that can hear you," Mr. Davidson reminded him.

"Can you guys come with me, please?" Bill said quietly.

"Of course, Bill." They stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. After confirming that they were alone, Bill apologized to Alice and Deb.

"What for? I don't know what you did, but I like it," Alice smiled.

"For lying to you for so long. Alice, I have powers. Healing powers, to be more specific."

"What?" 

"Oh, so that's what that was," Deb said casually, like this happened all the time.

"I'm sorry, what is going on?" Deb's mom said, staring at Bill. 

"You tell me, ma'am." Paul smiled. 

"Four of my employees and I were involved in a meteor crashing into the office five years ago," Mr. Davidson explained. "Now we have superpowers." So that was the short story, apparently.

"Wait, all of you have powers?" Alice asked.

"Not all of us. Paul doesn't," Ted snickered. Melissa hit him lightly on the arm.

"That's sick as f- heck," Deb quickly corrected, remembering that her mother was in the room.

"Nice save, kid," Ted chuckled.

"Thanks. So, uh, what are you guys' powers?"

"Telekinesis."

"Teleportation."

"Omnilingualism."

"Chaetokinesis." Melissa nodded slowly, remembering that no one knew what that was. "Hair manipulation." 

"Dude!" Deb grinned. "That's so cool."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alice asked.

Ted pointed to Melissa. "This one wouldn't let him."

"Hey, if the wrong person finds out, we're all in trouble." She looked at Alice and Deb's faces. "You are not the wrong people, by the way," she quickly added. 

"Then why did Paul know?" Alice asked quietly.

"Don't feel bad, they didn't tell me about it until this morning," Paul said. "They didn't exactly make it hard to guess, though."

"Excuse you!" 

Paul shrugged and smiled. "Don't kill the messenger." 

"Alice, dear? Are you okay?" A voice asked from the doorway.

"Hey, Mom. My leg is broken and-" she cut herself off, remembering that she didn't have whiplash anymore, thanks to Bill. "Otherwise, yeah, I'm fine. Nothing permanent." 

"I'm so glad to see you-" Bill's ex-wife walked over to Alice and noticed Bill. "Hello," she said dryly. "Is this your fault, Bill?" 

"No, Ms. Metcalfe," Deb said quietly. "You know it's not."

Alice's mother glared at Bill. "Wouldn't surprise me." 

"Stop it, Mom," Alice sighed. She didn't want to hear her parents fighting again, especially not about her.

"Goodbye, Nicole," Bill said sharply. "I'll see you in a bit, Alice."


	12. Chapter 12

"How much did Nicole hear?" Bill asked frantically, his eyes flashing turquoise again. "What if Alice tells her? What if they tell someone else? What will the doctors say about Alice? She had whiplash, that doesn't just-"

"Bill," Charlotte said, gently taking his hand. "Calm down. It's okay." 

"But it's not okay!"

"Listen to me, please. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Open them. Tell me five things you can see." 

Bill breathed and opened his eyes. "I- I can see Paul, Mr. Davidson, Melissa, Ted, and you, Charlotte."

"Good, now tell me four things you can feel," Charlotte smiled.

"I can feel your hand, and the wall, the doorknob, and Melissa's hair."

"Yes. Three things you can hear."

"I can hear the hospital intercom, doors closing, and my voice."

"Tell me two things you can smell." 

"I can smell Melissa's perfume and rubbing alcohol." 

"One more. Now tell me one thing you can taste," she said.

"I can't taste anything right now." 

"Well, what's something you could taste?" 

"I could taste chocolate if I was eating it." 

Charlotte smiled. "Do you feel better now, Bill?" 

Bill took another deep breath and smiled back at Charlotte. "Yes. Thank you, Charlotte." He hugged her and she murmured something in Greek. He didn't need to ask her what it meant.

"He's right, though, what are the doctors going to say?" Mr. Davidson whispered to Melissa. She gave him a small shrug and nervously bit her lip. How were they going to cover this?

~•~

"Bill." Alice's mother glared at Bill.

"Nicole." Bill returned the glare. 

"We've told you already, Ms. Metcalfe. He had nothing to do with the crash. It's not his fault," Deb said behind them. 

"Are you sure? Lots of things are." She crossed her arms, still glaring. "The divorce, Alice-" 

"Nicole!" 

"Please stop," Alice said quietly. "I don't want to hear any more of this." 

"Tell that to her," Bill said, not breaking eye contact with his ex-wife. She narrowed her eyes and turned and walked away. Bill, choking back more tears, walked towards Alice. "Did you guys tell her?" He whispered so Alice's mother wouldn't hear.

Alice shook her head. "Should we have?" 

"No. I don't really want her knowing."

"I can understand that," Alice whispered, remembering some of her mother's choice words about Bill.

"What don't you want me to know?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." Bill wondered how she had heard him.

"That's not true." Nicole walked back towards Alice and Bill. "Alice, what is he keeping from me?" 

Alice didn't like lying to her mother. She bit her lip to keep from talking, but she was clearly uncomfortable.

"Nothing, Ms. Metcalfe. Just like he said," Deb said, glaring at Alice's mother.

"I don't believe you." 

"Then don't. I'm fine with that. Just know we aren't telling you anything, because there's nothing for us to tell." Alice smiled gratefully at Deb.

Nicole scowled and turned to Alice. "Are you going home with him or me when you're done here?" 

"Him, if that's okay," Alice said quietly. 

"Fine." She turned back to Bill. "Keep your secret. Just know dishonesty is what broke our marriage, Bill." 

"Not on my part," Bill retorted.

Ted silently teleported behind Nicole. "Ooooohkay! Let's stop this conversation now."

Bill tried to hide his frustration with Ted for using his powers when Nicole could have easily seen them, but his ex-wife saw right through him. "What's wrong, Bill?" 

"Again, nothing."

"Re-"

"Ms. Metcalfe, will you leave him alone?" 

"What did you just say to me?" Nicole turned to argue with Deb.

"I said, leave him alone. If he doesn't want to tell you something, he doesn't have to." Alice nodded quietly. 

Nicole and Deb continued arguing. Alice looked to Deb's mother, trying to stop her daughter from getting into a fight with her own mother, who didn't trust her anymore. She looked at Paul, Charlotte, Melissa and Mr. Davidson, who were all whispering something Alice couldn't hear to each other. She looked to her father, who looked more upset than she had seen him in a long time, also whispering something to Ted. Everything was in chaos. A few tears silently rolled down her cheek. This was all because of her. 


End file.
